About JHID

OUR MISSION is to create thoughtful, beautiful interiors that meet our clients’ aesthetic, functional, and economic goals while honoring and celebrating the buildings that contain them.

OUR PERSPECTIVE is informed by a respect for historical architecture coupled with an appreciation of the playfulness and brightness of modern design.

OUR EXPERIENCE AND EXPERTISE applies to all types of projects: on smaller residential and renovation work we can produce the drawings necessary for permitting and construction, on larger commercial and new-construction projects we focus on the interiors and work in tandem with architectural and engineering teams.

OUR APPROACH is flexible and responsive. We work with some clients who have a strong vision and we help them achieve it. Others are less sure and we guide them through the design process, helping them to formulate their own aesthetic as we go.

OUR NETWORK of collaborating professionals, formed through fifteen years of practice, includes architects, builders, artists, and artisans who share our vision.

WE ARE BASED IN PORTLAND, OREGON but we are currently working on projects in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and other cities in the US. We enjoy the diversity and learning opportunities offered by working in communities other than our own.

Jessica Helgerson

Jessica Helgerson has more than fifteen years experience designing residential and commercial interiors. Though her interiors are typically clean and uncluttered, she is comfortable working in a variety of styles, guided by her clients’ individual needs and tastes. Her design process is pragmatic (how should the space be laid out to flow and function well?) as well as creative/conceptual (what idea or feeling will ground and focus the design?).

At the beginning of each project, Jessica likes to start with the same questions: What’s the best design for the client? What’s the best design for the building or space? What will stand the test of time, stylistically and functionally? For any project, her goal is to ensure that the fundamental design and materials are classic, long lasting, and appropriate to the building and its period. Then she likes to layer on fresh, contemporary elements—such as lighting, furniture, and art—that feel just right for the clients and for the moment.

Jessica has a long-standing interest in green building and sustainability. At the start of her career she was a green building activist, sitting on a number of boards devoted to environmental preservation and serving as president of the Sustainability Project. She continues to bring this interest in sustainability into her daily life. For four years, her family lived, rather experimentally, in a 540-square-foot cottage on five acres of farmland. Adorned with a planted green roof and big front porch, the cottage was remodeled with almost entirely reclaimed materials. With her husband, she has been raising chickens, turkeys, and bees and growing nearly all the food their family eats, as well as throwing lots of big dinner parties for friends hungry for food they can see growing. They now live on a larger house on the same property, where everyone can spread out a bit.

Fluent in French and Italian, she has lived and worked in Italy, Switzerland, and France. Her life in Europe and her travels in India, Mexico, Morocco, and the Far East have strongly influenced her work.

Photo by Parker Fitzgerald

Chelsie LeeDesigner

Originally from Ohio, Chelsie studied Interior Design at the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning. During school she interned in Nashville, Cincinnati, and Boulder and studied abroad in Copenhagen where she fell in love with Scandinavian design aesthetic and principals. After graduating in 2008, Chelsie temporarily shifted her path away from design and volunteered at AmeriCorps. She spent a season living and working at Arches National Park in Utah before eventually finding her way to Portland in 2009. Prior to joining JHID, Chelsie spent six months at Skylab Architecture where she worked on a number of projects including the renovation of the W Hotel in Seattle.

Photo by Ty Milford

Em ShepardDesigner

Em Shephard first discovered her passions for design and travel touring across Asia with her 78-year-old grandmother when she was 12. Since then, she has studied in Europe, taught English in Argentina, eloped in India, and travelled throughout SE Asia and Central and South America. Along the way, she has fed her design aesthetic with the cultures, perspectives, landscapes, architectures, and inspirations of her travels. She earned a Bachelors in World Religions from Colorado College, and went on to receive a BFA in Interior Architecture and Design from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. She then spent three years at Kelly Wearstler, Inc. in LA where she managed design projects for 5-star hotels (including the Viceroy brand), high-end residential, and boutique retail. She worked on new construction and renovation projects, while gaining extensive experience with custom designs—from rugs and lighting to furniture and millwork. Tiring of the clichéd LA traffic and smog, and looking for a community to compliment her sustainable design perspective, Em and her husband moved to Portland where she joined JHID. She has fallen in love with the city, and surrounding area, and spends her weekends hiking, camping, and indulging in Portland’s renowned food and wine culture.

Photo by Malcolm Lee

Mira eng-goetzDesigner

Mira Eng-Goetz enjoys exploring the relationships between objects, people and spaces. She studied sculpture at Mills College in Oakland, California and later received a bachelor of science degree in interior architecture at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. Mira’s designs are often influenced by her experiences abroad in Europe and West Africa where she interned with a variety of visual artists and volunteered as a health worker in the Peace Corps.

Photo by Ty Milford

Alisha BordenDesigner

Alisha Borden is intrigued with the effect the built environment has on its users. She believes the most inspired designs are created through multidisciplinary practices, and is always seeking to learn. Alisha graduated with a bachelor’s degree in interior design and a minor in sustainability from the Art Institute of Portland. During her time in school she completed an internship at Skylab Architecture, and regularly collaborated with students in various fields of study, broadening her perspective on design and how it is influenced by allied arts.

Photo by Malcolm Lee

Andra PadillaDesigner

Andra Padilla has been drawn to the intricacy of design and fabrication since early childhood. Following her passion, she attended the University of Texas School of Architecture where she received a bachelor of science degree in interior design. Her experiences interning in Austin and San Francisco, as well as her time spent studying abroad throughout Europe, have greatly shaped her view of architecture/design and their relationship to culture, religion, and community. Andra has now made Portland her new home, where she plans to continue her love for hands-on construction through woodworking, ceramics, and welding.

Stephen PierceOffice Manager

Stephen was born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee. After receiving a B.A. in marketing from the University of Memphis, the humidity finally drove him out of the South to teach ESL in Korea and Spain. He decided to move to the Pacific coast after hearing about the food and culture of Portland, and he received a post-baccalaureate degree in accounting from Portland State University. When he is not at JHID, Stephen spends his time biking, cooking, and exploring our beautiful city.

Photo by Malcolm Lee

Adam PorterfieldCommunications Director

As a primarily self-taught, multidisciplinary artist and designer, Adam experienced a late-in-life realization that dabbling is, in and of itself, an interesting career path. In working with JHID, Adam has been provided the opportunity to wear many hats; from scheming dream projects for the firm, to corresponding with the press, and picking up tile samples. Every day, and every project, is chock full of opportunities for learning, growth and gratitude.